Machine for making nut blanks and similar articles



July 17, 1928. 1,677,151

H. D. SIMKINS ET AL MACHINE FOR MAKING NUT BLANKS AND SIMILAR ARTICLES Filed Dec. 9, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INS/ENTERS. HUI/YARD U. SiMKIN'S, 1.7273132 Evan-Hanna",

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H. n. SIMKINS ET AL MACHINE FOR MAKING NUT BLANKS AND SIMILAR ARTICLES July 11, 1928.

Filed Dec. 9, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet Ill/ 1117 fzszyzzvraass HUM/JED Z7. Elms zTazamr BUHKHJRDI,

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Patented July 17, 1928.

UNITED STATES;

PATENT OFFICE.

HOWARD. SIMKIIlS AND JOHN BURKHAR-DT, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, ASSIGNORS TO THE SUPERIOR SCREW 8c BOLT MANUFACTURING COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF MACHINE FOR MAKING NUT BLANKS AND SIMILAR ARTICLES.

Application filed December 9, 1926. Serial No. 153,478.

Our invention relates-to metal working machines and more particularly to machines for automatically making nut blanks from stripped stock by the cold process In such machines a strip of stock ordinarily of iron orsteel is fed through the machine and a punch and die are disposed so that the nut blanks are )erforated, cut oil and ejected as the stock a "vances through the machine.

Heretofore these nut blanks have been perforated andthen sheared from the stock one at a time. According to my invention I two or a multiple of two nut blanks may be simultaneously formed thus increasing the efficiency of .the machine. Our invention comprises improvements inthe punch and die mechanism as well in the ejector mechanism and thecombination thereof with the punch and the mechanism. Various other features and advantages of my invention will appear from the description of a species thereof whichfollowspin which Fig, 1 is a plan view of our improved punch and die mechanism; Fig. 2 is a front elevation thereof mounted 'uponan ordinary metal working machine; Fig. 3 is a vertical section along the line 3-3 of Fig. 2; 4 is a similar section on a somewhat larger scale showing the shearing and piercing punches in their raised position; Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic plan view partially in section showing the operation of the ejector mechanism; and Fig. 6 is a fragmentary elevation of the ejector and plunger which carries the ejector operation cam. Referring now to the drawings, 10 represents the bed of anordinary metal working machine upon which is mounted our improved punch and die mechanism. The lower portion of this mechanism is stationary and comprises a base 11 which is securely fastened to the bed 10 by means of the bolts 12. A piercing and shearing die block 13 (Figs. 3, 4, and 5) is firmly seated in base 11 and has formedtherein a series of pairs of die openings 14. In practice when a pair of these die openings becomes worn with use. the die block is moved to bring anotherpair ofdie, openings into reg istry with punches 15-16. These punches are mounted in a clamp 17 which is seated in theupper reciprocating punch block 18 and attached thereto by means of the bolts :19. In assembling the punches. a pair of split bushings 20 and 21 are placed aroundtnelr upper portions 22 and 25 after which they are inserted in the sleeves 2e and 25. These assemblies are then placed in the holes 2627 formed in the clamp 17. As shown. Fig. 4, the diameter or" the holes QB-27 is somewhatlarger than the outside diameter o'l'the sleeves 2-l25. This diiference in diameter allows. the punch assemblies to float in a horizontal direction. The clamp 17 is next placed in the reciprocating blOCK rs and held in position by the bolts 19 which at this time are not tightened. This floating arrangement of the punch assembly permits a quick and accurate alignment of the punches with the die openings 14. During such adjustment, the reciprocating block 18 i s lowered and the punches are adjusted until they enter the die openings. The bolts 19 are then tightened so as to clamp the punches in a permanent position with their; tops 2829- flush against a pair of hardened steel plates 3031 which are carried by the block 18.

The reciprocating block 158 also carries a shearing punch 32 which registers with the die opening 33 formed by the edge of the the block 13 and plate 34. This punch 32 acts as a cutting off device to sever two nut blanks at al-timefrom the stock as it advances over the opening The block 18 through its bearing arms 35-36 rides upon the guides 3738 which extend from the stationary base 11 and is reciprocated' by means of a rain or plunger 39 which is common, to this class of machinery.

The raising and lowering of the ram or u u s plunger 39 is accomplished in the usual way and this in turn reciprocates the block 18 through a pair of slotted plates 40 41.

The plate 40 is attached to and extends from the front of the block 18. In. this plate is formed a longitudinal slot 42 which receives a lug 43 projecting from the hammer portion 445 of the ram. The plate 41 is attached to and depends from'the rear end of the hammer portion. 44 and also has a longitudinal slot 45 which receives a lug 46 projecting from the rear portion ofthe block 18. On the upward movement of the ram 39 the block 18 remains stationary until the lug-43 reaches the end of the slot 42 at which time the end of the slot 45 of the plate 41 has reached the lug 46 on the rear of the block 18. The ram continues to move upward its allotted distance carrying with it the block 18 to the position shown in Fig. 1. A pair of lugs ai -'18 (Fig. 1) carried by the block 18 through the fiat springs 19 50 frictionally engage the guides 373S so as to hold the said block in its uppermost position until it is struck by the face of the hammer 4st on the downward movement of the ram thus forcing the piercing punches and shearing punch through the stock and into their respective die openings.

In operation the usual feeding mechanism is provided which is adapted to feed the stock in the form of a straight bar or from a coil transversely in a forward direction with relation to the punch and die mechanism. In order to avoid waste. we prefer to use a strip of stock the exact width of the nut blank. As shown. this stock 51 is fed through an aperture in the stationary base 11 so that it passes over the die openings of the block 13 and under the guide plate 52 carried by the said base. As the block 18 is forced downward by the ram, the piercing punches 15--16 are caused to perforate the stock5l and form therein the bolt holes 53 and 54. Upon the aising of the block 18, the stock is advanced the length of two nut blanks. The piercing punches are so arranged and their movement is so timed with that of the stock that each punch pierces alternate nut blanks. The stock continues to advance intermittently each time the block 18 is raised. The end of the. stock shortly reaches the stop 55 which is adjustahly mounted upon a plate 56 bolted to the base 11. At that moment the block 18 is in raised position, as shown in Fig. 4, and then a downward movement of the ram 39 causes its hammer portion 44 to strike the face 57 of the said block thereby forcing it downward so as to carry the piercing punches 15 -16 and the shearing punch 34 through the stock and into their respective die openings. The block 18 is shown in its lowermost position in Fig. 3, and the shearing punch has severed the stock and shoved one nut blank 58 through the die opening 33. The remaining port-ion of the stock which rests upon the plate 34 is another nut blank 59. This blank 59 is finally kicked out by an ejector mechanism upon the upward movement of the ram 39 thus allowing the stock to be again advanced forward until its end strikes against the stop plate 55.

The ejector comprises a horizontally disposed arm 60 which is slidably mounted upon the base 11 and reciprocated by means of a bar 61 in which is formed a cam slot 62 which receives the pin 63 extending from the said ejector arm. The bar 61 is bolted to the ram 39 and when the said ram is in its lowermost position, the ejector arm 60 is in retracted position and the pin 63 is in the upper end of the cam slot as shown in Fig. 2. Upon the raising of the ram, the bar 61 is moved upward until the pin 63 strikes against the angularly disposed face of a cam arm 64: pivotally mounted upon a shaft (55 located in the center of the cam slot 62. As the bar (31 continues upwardly, the pin 63 rides along the face of the cam arm causing the ejector arm to move toward the nut blank 59 to shove it 01f the plate 34 into a chute (not shown). As shown in the drawing, the punch 32 is recessed at 59 so as to avoid interference with the nut blank 59 during its ejection. The bar 61 is now in the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 6 and continues to be drawn upwardly until the ram 39 reaches its uppermost position, and in the meantime the ejector arm is retracted to its original position and the bar 61 finally reaches the lower endof the cam slot. When the ram 39 is lowered, the ejector arm remains stationary owing to the fact that the cam slot is straight at one side and passes over the pin 63. During this movement the said pin strikes against the cam arm 64. The latter is held against movement in one direction by a coiled spring 66 and this allows the arm to be rotated slightly by pin 63 to allow the latter to pass into the position shown in Fig. 2 ready to start another cycle upon the next upward movement of the ram 39.

In operation the stock is fed intermittently and two bolt holes are formed and two nuts sheared off and ejected during each up and down movement of the ram.

hat we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a machine for making blanks from a strip of metal, the combination of a shearing punch and a co-operating die, means for supporting and positioning the metal strip so that an end portion extends a definite distance over said die, means for actuating said punch to simultaneously sever two blanks and to cause one thereof to be dis charged through said die, means for ejecting the other blank, and means whereby said ejecting means is caused to operate in a definite time relation with the operation of said shearing punch.

2. In a machine for making blanks from a strip of metal, the combination of a shearing punch and a co-operating die, means for supporting the metal strip so that it may be intermittently advanced a distance equal to the length of two blanks. means for actuating said punch to simultaneously sever two blanks and to cause one thereof to be discharged through said die, means for ejecting the other blank, and means whereby said ejecting means is caused to operate in a definite time relation with the operation of said shearing punch.

3. In a machine for forming perforated blanks froma metal strip, the combination of means for supporting said strip, means for simultaneously perforating an end portion of said strip at a plurality of points, means for thereafter simultaneously shearing off from the end of the strip without 4. In a machine for making perforated blanks from a metal strip, the combination of means for supporting said strip, means for simultaneously pertorating an end portion of said str p at a plurality of points,

means for thereafter simultaneously shearing off from the end of the strip without Waste a plurality of blanks each containing one of the apertures thus formed, means for positioning said strip so that a portion is in operative relation to said perforating means While the previously perforated portion is in operative relation to said shearing means, means for ejecting the completed blanks to allow the strip to be advanced into position for making new blanks, and means whereby all of said means are caused to operate in proper sequence. 1

In Witness whereof, We have hereunto set our hands this 6th day of December, 1926.

HOWARD D; sIMKINs. JOHN BURKHARDT. 

